Research BRIEFS
Leveraging Multidisciplinary Teams from Bench to Bedside Photo above: Patricia Molina, MD, PhD, center, and the ALIVE-Ex team
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has funded a multidisciplinary team at LSU Health to study the ability of aerobic exercise to improve glycemic control in people living with HIV. The ALIVE-Ex Study, led by Dr. Patricia Molina, Director of the Alcohol HIV/AIDS Research Center, leverages expertise in basic science, public health, radiology and exercise science to translate observations in non-human primates into clinical interventions for subjects. Advancements in anti-retroviral therapy have allowed HIV infection to emerge as a chronic rather than deadly
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disease. Therefore, researchers have shifted their focus to better understand why these subjects are at higher risk for metabolic comorbidities such as insulin resistance and prediabetes. Dr. Molina and her team have designed an aerobic exercise intervention which they believe will greatly increase glycemic control for these subjects. This study is an excellent example of the opportunities that are unlocked for School of Medicine faculty because they are part of a larger LSU University System.
in a single gene. This mutation is the primary cause of Usher Syndrome, the leading genetic cause of blindness and deafness in the world. This syndrome is prevalent in the Acadiana population of Southwest Louisiana. Isolating this gene is key to a therapy Dr. Lentz is developing which could prevent inevitable blindness for these patients. The antisense oligonucleotide, short pieces of DNA or RNA, are designed to target the mutation and
Preventing Blindness in Acadiana Dr. Jennifer Lentz, Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology & Biocommunications and Neuroscience, focuses her research on a specific founder mutation
Dr. Lentz (holding mouse) and her research team
LSU HEALTH NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 2020
